Stephen A. Smith Leaves ESPN New York to Join Sirius XM

ESPN and SiriusXM have reached an agreement for ESPN to produce The Stephen A. Smith Show exclusively for SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio. The two-hour daily program will debut on satellite radio on Tuesday, Sept. 2, at 1 p.m. ET with the show produced and broadcast from ESPN Audio’s headquarters in Bristol. It was rumored for weeks that Smith, who co-hosts a daily radio show on ESPN 98.7 New York with Ryan Ruocco and was suspended last week for an on-air rant on domestic violence, was headed to SiriusXM.

“The Stephen A. Smith Show” will lead in each day to “Mad Dog Unleashed”, hosted by the channel’s headline personality, Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo. The daily weekday lineup on Mad Dog Sports Radio will now feature:

“Stephen A. is an exceptional talent,” said Scott Greenstein, SiriusXM’s President and Chief Content Officer. “We are thrilled he has chosen SiriusXM to be the exclusive home of The Stephen A. Smith Show and we’re excited to collaborate with ESPN to provide him with a platform that delivers his commentary to listeners across the U.S. and Canada.”

Traug Keller, ESPN senior vice president, production, business divisions, added, “This is an exciting new business opportunity for ESPN Audio. By creating outstanding exclusive audio content for SiriusXM, in this case The Stephen A. Smith Show, we are maximizing our presence on a variety of platforms that expand our reach and options for sports fans.”

“Words can’t express how excited I am to be going to SiriusXM,” said Smith. “I’ve waited a long time for this. All I’m going to say is Sept. 2 can’t arrive soon enough. So Buckle Up! Because I’m coming.”

Smith will continue to make newsworthy guest appearances on ESPN New York 98.7FM and other ESPN Radio affiliates. He will remain a featured commentator on ESPN2’s First Take and make appearances on SportsCenter and other ESPN television shows. He had hosted a local radio show on ESPN New York since 2011.